Caergwrle () is a village in the county of

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, in north east

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Approximately from

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

and situated on the

A541 road The A541 is an A road in North Wales. The road starts on the A525 in Trefnant, between St Asaph and Denbigh, and ends in Wrexham. On the way, it passes the town of Mold. It also passes through many villages. In northern-central Wrexham it ...

, it is contiguous with the villages of

Abermorddu Abermorddu () is a village in the county of Flintshire, Wales, in the community of Hope. Approximately 5 miles north of Wrexham along the A541 road, it is contiguous with the main village of Caergwrle and closely related to the village of Hope. ...

and

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

, though in parts Caergwrle and Hope are separated by a river border. The village lies on the

River Alyn The River Alyn ( cy, Afon Alun) is a tributary of the River Dee, in north-east Wales. The River Alyn rises at the southern end of the Clwydian hills and the Alyn Valley forms part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding ...

and sits at the base of Hope Mountain. At the 2001 Census, the population was 1,650. The population was subsequently absorbed in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

of Hope and only the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

remained. The population of this ward as taken at the 2011 census was 1,619. The ward includes the area of

. Further south is the village of Cefn-y-Bedd.

Origins of name

The name ''Caergwrle'' derives from the Welsh ''caer'' 'fort' and a lost English

placename Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

*''Corley'' 'river meadow of the crane'.

Folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

explained the name by means of a ''cawr'' ('giant') named ''Gwrle'', who was supposed to have lived in nearby

Caergwrle Castle Caergwrle Castle ( cy, Castell Caergwrle), also known as Queen's Hope in scholarly texts, is located in the town of Caergwrle, in Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Welsh under Dafydd ap Gruffydd in service to Edward I of England. When Dafyd ...

and to have been buried in the nearby

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at Cefn-y-bedd.

History

The 13th-century, ruined Caergwrle Castle was first built by Tywysog (Prince)

Dafydd ap Gruffydd Dafydd ap Gruffydd (11 July 1238 – 3 October 1283) was Prince of Wales from 11 December 1282 until his execution on 3 October 1283 on the orders of King Edward I of England. He was the last native Prince of Wales before the conquest of W ...

, in lands agreed with

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a va ...

during his invasion of Wales in 1277. Dafydd, in agreeing not to resist the invasion, had extensive improvements made to his castle at Edward's expense. In 1282 however, Dafydd bought his time and raised the banner of revolt, marching on Hawarden Castle controlled by Edward's invaders. Dafydd and his men seized the castle. Dafydd's brother, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd the Prince of Wales, was then drawn into what became the Welsh Wars of Independence. When Llywelyn was beheaded by one of Edward's mercenaries in 1282, Dafydd ap Gruffydd then became Prince of Wales from 11 December 1282 until his execution on 3 October 1283 by King Edward I of England. He was the last independent ruler of Wales until Owain Glyndwr's uprising in the 15th Century. The 17th-century

Packhorse Bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low parapets so ...

, which is reputed to be

haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...

, was nearly destroyed by flooding in 2000, though it has since been restored. There have been many other developments and restorations in Caergwrle. Caergwrle is also home to a Welsh International football player George Alfred Godding who played from 17 March 1923 to 14 April 1923 with two caps for Wales. Caergwrle's long association with the adjacent village of Hope has given rise to a well-known local joke: "Live in Hope, die in Caergwrle".''The AA touring guide to Wales'', Automobile Association, 1975, p.205 This was already described as an "old saying" in the 19th century, when it was recorded by the antiquarian John Askew Roberts.

Transport

Rail

The service from Wrexham Central to

Bidston Bidston is a village, a parish and a suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, in the modern county of Merseyside. The area is a mixture of the well-preserved Bidston Village, Bidston Hill, a modern housing estate, and the Bidston Moss nat ...

passes through

Caergwrle railway station Caergwrle railway station serves the village of Caergwrle in Flintshire, Wales. The station is 4¾ miles (7 km) north of Wrexham Central on the Borderlands Line. History The station was opened as ''Bridge End'' in June 1872. From 18 ...

. Bidston provides a connection to

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

via the

Wirral Line The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line. The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, wi ...

. Caergwrle railway station is managed by Transport for Wales as of Autumn 2018.

Bus

Caergwrle has bus links giving access to

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

, Broughton, Wrexham and

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Food and drink in Caergwrle

There are two pubs in Caergwrle, the Crown Inn and Ye Old Castle Inn. These pubs have their own pool and

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

teams. The Bridge Inn, formerly a pub and a fully licensed Chinese restaurant, latterly renamed to Po Po Pang, a fully licensed Malaysian/Chinese restaurant, has closed as a daily business but opens for private bookings. Honey's Bakery to the rear of Po Po Pang is a café which is open daily. The Darby Arms and Half Way Inn have been closed for some years and are now private residences. The Glynn Arms became a Nursing Home many years ago.

The Caergwrle Bowl

The Caergwrle Bowl is a unique object dating to the

Middle Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pr ...

, c. 1300 BC, originally manufactured from shale, tin and gold. It is thought to represent a boat, with its applied gold decoration signifying oars and waves, and either sun discs or circular shields. Some researchers have suggested that the Caergwrle Bowl represents a mythological solar boat. Similarities have been noted with the contemporary miniature gold boats from Nors in Denmark, and with the later Broighter gold boat from Ireland. The Caergwrle bowl has also been related to the earlier

Nebra sky disc The Nebra sky disc (german: Himmelsscheibe von Nebra) is a bronze disc of around diameter and a weight of , having a blue-green patina and inlaid with gold symbols. These symbols are interpreted generally as the Sun or full moon, a lunar cresc ...

from Germany, which is thought to depict a solar boat. Gold lunulae from the Early Bronze Age Beaker culture, including examples from Wales, have also been interpreted as representations of solar boats. The gold cape from Mold, which dates from the same period as the Nebra sky disc, was found near to Caergwrle. The incomplete bowl was found in 1823 by a workman digging a drain in a field below

. It was donated to the

National Museum Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

in 1912, and sent to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

for restoration where it was originally reconstructed from wax with the decoration attached by an adhesive. Since then the bowl has been rebuilt again as the first conservation failed to be stable.Davis, Mary
Re-conserving the Caergwrle Bowl
" ''Museum Wales Website'' Retrieved on 17 February 2010

References

External links

Castell Alun High SchoolPhotos of Caergwrle and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{authority control Villages in Flintshire